Truth be told, I wasn’t sure that Zombie Land Saga could maintain the breakneck pacing shown in its first episode. Thankfully, though, episode two proved me wrong, and did so without compromising its central themes or now trademark slapstick humour.
Metal Is Out, Rap Is In
Sure, the jokes took a while to appear in episode two but once they were there, the show made up for lost time. “Girls cornered in an alley by guys looking for a date” is hardly a new subplot in anime, but having those guys invite them to karaoke in rap form? That’s good. Having a policeman try to stop it, also while rapping? Genius.
This week’s performance was a complete disaster. Heads rolled, literally. However, the way Zombie Land Saga turned an on-stage argument into a genuinely catchy rap battle was amazing. If the show continuously switches musical genres each week, the audience are in for a real treat.
Sakura: Frontman?
The first half of this episode was spent introducing us to Saki, ex-biker-gang-leader. Predictably, she’s rebellious, and doesn’t take orders from anyone. In a twist no one saw coming, however, it’s Sakura that manages to put Saki in her place as the episode comes to a close.
This is particularly interesting, since in episode one, Sakura was a generic “let’s all be friends” style protagonist. So what does this mean? Well, the show’s main character isn’t afraid to get tough if the situation calls for it. As both a zombie and an idol, this trait is sure to work to her advantage in the long run. She even called out two of the meeker girls for being too timid on-stage, so we can assume they’ll be the focus of episode three.
So What’s Next?
We still don’t know much about the other members of the group. Also, Tae hasn’t woken up yet and keeps biting people. It’s likely both of these issues will be resolved in the next few episodes, but there’s a bigger issue: no real plot as yet.
How can this be resolved? The easiest way is to give Death Musume/Green Face a rival idol group to beat. This should carry the show up until the end of its first cour at least, and could even help justify a second. I wasn’t expecting… well… any of what this show has thrown at me, but Zombie Land Saga turns the idol tropes on their heads and is one anime I really hope comes back next year.
